Santana gives up five runs in an inning and the Angels lose

Toronto Blue Jays' Adam Lind celebrates his three-run home run with teammates Rajai Davis and Yunel Escobar, rear, against the Angels during the fourth inning on Friday in Toronto.AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP

TORONTO - At the front of the rotation, the Angels have an ace in Jered Weaver who has been as dependable as any over the past few seasons and a left-hander in C.J. Wilson who has been everything they could have hoped when they plucked him off the free-agent market last winter.

At the back end, they actually have more than they need – rookie right-hander Garrett Richards ready for a regular turn in a major-league rotation but probably headed back to Triple-A when Jerome Williams returns from the DL.

But the Angels might be running into a problem familiar to a lot of Americans – they're getting a little soft in the middle.

One night after Dan Haren turned in another uneven start, right-hander Ervin Santana allowed five runs in one inning and the Angels' offense couldn't quite make up for it, losing 7-5 Friday night at Rogers Centre.

The loss was just the second in the Angels' past 16 road games and third in their past 12 overall. They are 17-8 in June – but have not gained any ground on the first-place Texas Rangers.

More problematic, Santana and Haren seem to be passing a virus back and forth. Haren has given up a three-run home run in each of his past three starts. Santana (the major-league leader in home runs allowed for a long stretch earlier this season) gave up a three-run home run to Adam Lind in the Blue Jays' big fourth inning Friday. Between them, Santana (19) and Haren (15) have given up 34 home runs this season while the rest of the rotation has given up just 14.

Overall, Santana and Haren have combined for a 4.83 ERA – the rest of the Angels' rotation has a 2.76 ERA. The Angels' starters also lead the American League with 48 quality starts this season (a modest target of six innings and three earned runs or fewer) – Santana and Haren each have just seven of those in their 16 starts.

Most disturbing for the Angels, they are 11-21 when Santana or Haren starts - a number admittedly skewed by the lack of run support those two received early in the season – and 32-13 when anyone else starts.

"It's easy to sit back and maybe look at guys that aren't throwing as well as they can over a number of games and ... I think you can break down a lot of guys' seasons and say that," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "These guys are good pitchers. We need them. We absolutely do not consider them soft spots. We believe they're going to do what we need them to do over the course of the season.

"These guys have gone against some tough lineups and pitched well. They just haven't been throwing the ball with the consistency that is in both of them. We have every confidence when they take the ball they're going to give us a chance to win."

The Angels had that chance Friday but mainly after Santana left the game in the sixth inning. They strung together some small innings to match the Blue Jays' big inning, getting single runs in the third, fourth and fifth then tying the game on John Hester's two-run home run in the seventh.

That tie didn't last long. Walden retired the first two batters in the seventh inning then gave up a single to Edwin Encarnacion who stole second while Walden was walking Kelly Johnson. That was the Blue Jays' sixth steal in the first two games of this series including a steal of third base by Rajai Davis who took off as Hester was throwing the ball back to Santana.

With two runners on, Yunel Escobar took a 98-mph fastball on the outer half of the plate from Walden and lined it down the right-field line. It bounced into the stands for an RBI double to break the tie.

"I made a couple bad pitches," Walden said. "I made that one to Encarnacion then I walked Kelly Johnson. Y'all saw everything else.

"It's frustrating (to give up a two-out rally) especially to get through (Jose) Bautista."

Lind added a second home run off Hisanori Takahashi in the eighth. The loss charged to Walden was the first for an Angels reliever since May 30.

Toronto Blue Jays' Adam Lind celebrates his three-run home run with teammates Rajai Davis and Yunel Escobar, rear, against the Angels during the fourth inning on Friday in Toronto. AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP
Angels pitcher Ervin Santana throws to the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning on Friday in Toronto. AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP
The Angels' Ervin Santana pitches to the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning on Friday in Toronto. AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP
The Angels' Mark Trumbo, right, celebrates an RBI with Mike Trout, left, on a sacrifice fly by Eric Aybar against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fourth inning on Friday in Toronto. AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP
Toronto Blue Jays' Edwin Encarnacion is tagged out at home by Angels catcher John Hester during the fifth inning in Toronto on Friday. AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP
The Toronto Blue Jays' Edwin Encarnacion reacts after being hit by a pitch thrown by the Angels' Ervin Santana during the fifth inning in Toronto on Friday. AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP
Toronto Blue Jays' Edwin Encarnacion steals second base in front of Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick during the seventh inning on Friday in Toronto. AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP
Angels pitcher Ervin Santana looks up after being pulled during the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday in Toronto. Toronto won 7-5. AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP
The Toronto Blue Jays Rajai Davis steals second base as Angels shortstop Erick Aybar is late with the tag during the sixth inning on Friday in Toronto. AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP
The Angels' John Hester, right, celebrates his two-run home run with Erick Aybar against the Toronto Blue Jays during the seventh inning on Friday in Toronto. AARON VINCENT ELKAIM, AP

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